Oakland A’s beat Texas Rangers, Yu Darvish

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Oakland Athletics’ Derek Norris (36) circles the bases on a three-run home run off Texas Rangers Shawn Tolleson (37) in the sixth inning of their MLB game at O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, June 17, 2014. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND — The A’s have shown an innate ability to make life miserable for Rangers starter Yu Darvish, and Oakland was back at it again Tuesday, beating the Texas ace for the eighth consecutive time, this time by a 10-6 count.

Oakland is 8-1 against Darvish while the rest of baseball is 13-35 against him. Coming into this, Darvish was well-rested and coming off a shutout of the Miami Marlins, but there was nothing of the shutout pitcher in what Coliseum fans saw Tuesday.

The A’s worked him for eight hits, five walks and seven runs, four earned, in running their winning streak against him to eight.

Derek Norris, who came off the bench to drive in Oakland’s last five runs with a pinch-hit three-run homer and a two-run double, didn’t face Darvish. But he watched the Texas ace throw from the sideline, and he summed up the A’s mastery as well as anyone.

“Maybe we’re his kryptonite team,” Norris said. “I’ve said it before that King Felix (Hernandez of the Mariners) has it tough against the Rangers but not against the other 29 teams. Maybe it’s like that for Darvish with us.”

It’s certainly something like that, because the A’s beat him and beat him and beat him. And everybody else struggles. Perhaps what the A’s do could serve as a primer for the other 29 teams, but the A’s don’t think so.

“He’s such a good pitcher,” A’s starter Tommy Milone, the owner of a five-game winning streak, said. “Any time he goes out there he can dominate.”

Darvish said it wasn’t the A’s this time as much as it was himself.

“It wasn’t just my (lack of) fastball command,” he said. “I didn’t have command of any of the pitches I had. It wasn’t their approach against me. I didn’t have my stuff.”

That would play better if it didn’t happen so consistently.

The scenario was a photocopy of past performances, the A’s hitters working the count hard, then coming up with big hits with men on base. Stephen Vogt had three hits, including a pair of run-scoring singles.

The Texas offense did make a push to get back in the game after Milone turned the game over to the bullpen with a 5-3 lead.

Norris made that comeback effort futile, with his fourth career pinch-hit homer in the sixth with two men on, then a two-run double into the gap in left-center in the eighth to provide insurance as the A’s improved to 43-28.

Darvish struggled to make it to the sixth inning. The patient A’s hitters worked him for a season-high five walks in his 5-plus innings. He’s started three time against Oakland this year, lasting six innings, 3﻿1/3 innings and 5-plus. Those are the three shortest stints of his season.

He has a career 3.13 ERA, but it’s 4.94 when he pitches against Oakland.

The A’s got a good start from Milone, but some shaky defense and a resurgent Texas offense got the Rangers back into the game after Milone exited.

It was a good day for the A’s catching corps. Vogt, playing right field, had three hits and drove in two runs. John Jaso singled, doubled and scored a run. And Norris came off the bench in the sixth inning and finished with five RBIs. That’s his second-best total this season after his two three-run homers on Mother’s Day.

Milone, who hasn’t lost since April, is 5-0 with a 2.31 ERA in his last eight starts.

The A’s reacted swiftly to the news that left-handed starting pitcher Drew Pomeranz landed on the disabled list Tuesday after fracturing his right hand, making a cash deal with the Milwaukee Brewers for left-handed starter Brad Mills. Mills was 4-2, 1.56 at Triple-A Nashville. The A’s put him on the Sacramento roster, but he’s likely to replace Pomeranz in the rotation Saturday against the Red Sox. Pomeranz said he broke his hand hitting a chair Monday after his worst start of the season, giving up eight runs (seven earned) in 3﻿2/3 innings. “It was pure frustration,” Pomeranz said. “You never want to come out of a game after putting your team in an 8-2 hole. That’s real frustration.”

The A’s called up reliever Evan Scribner from Sacramento to help a bullpen that was stretched by having to cover 5﻿1/3 innings against the Rangers on Monday necessitated by Pomeranz’s early exit. Scribner, who started the season with Oakland, had been closing for the River Cats (2-1, 11 saves, 4.32 ERA).

Third baseman Josh Donaldson, who had started 68 of the first 70 games, wasn’t in the starting lineup, although he did pinch-hit in the sixth. Donaldson has been slumping and manager Bob Melvin wanted to get an extra left-handed bat in the game. He did that by sitting Donaldson and playing Alberto Callaspo at third. Callaspo, who had hits in his final four at-bats Monday, had hits in his first two at-bats Tuesday, giving him six hits in six at-bats.

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